In character, the used-car dealer is a close cousin to the Web spammer, so he appreciates the advantages of misleadingly labeling a car ad as porn in order to drive up views, which is what Massachusetts-based Clay Corp. did with a YouTube video titled "Let's Get Naked." Expect much, much more of this to come: There…
General Motors' marketing head for North America told Ad Age that GM now spends 1 in 4 ad dollars online. But moving online is also a way to cut the total ad-budget denominator in that equation. The more efficient online ad market requires less spending. One analyst sums it up: "Everyone is fine-tuning ad budgets…
Microsoft's Vista apologists no longer have to worry about former chief software architect Bill Gates letting slip an admission that its latest operating system sucks, sending computer makers and users back to Windows XP. As soon as Dell, HP and other major manufacturers sell their current-supply of XP-loaded PCs,…
"We're considering bypassing Vista and going straight to Windows 7," GM technology chief Fred Killeen told BusinessWeek. He said that replacing Windows XP with Vista would require the company to buy too many machines. "By the time we'd replace them, Windows 7 might be ready anyway," he said. Fred, Fred, Fred — if…
The Freakonomics blog and search-data company Hitwise found that there are quite a few Gmail users who accidentally end up at GM.com when they mean to go to Gmail.com. In fact, 0.94 percent of GM.com visitors go to Gmail.com on their next page load versus 0.14 percent for Toyota.com to Gmail. No word from GM, but…
U.S. automakers will shift a larger percentage of its multibillion-dollar advertising budget from television to online. GM is allowing regional dealers to choose how their ad dollars are being spent, but the company is encouraging them to spend it on the Internet. GM's data indicates that the Net is the first place…
The relentless pursuit of scoop/exclusive credit is a die-hard pastime on this, our Internet. At Gawker, we tend to prefer a more squishy concept of content ownership; information wants to be free, or at least infinitely reproducible without cost, man. Nevertheless, we do try to provide credit where credit is due,…
